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Winnipeg Deals Blog
2014
19
March
Free roundtrip flight anywhere in North America | Amex Rewards card offer
19
March
It's not often that I plug a travel rewards card. In fact I don't think I ever have. When a travel blogger posts about such things, it's usually just a thinly disguised attempt to earn some referral income or benefit from the credit card companies. And I suppose this post is no different as you will soon find out.
But I can honestly say that this is one of the best travel rewards card offers I've ever seen, and one of the very few that's actually compelled me to sign up and share it with friends and family.
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IMPORTANT: As of September 1, 2014 the AMEX Aeroplan Plus Gold Card offer mentioned in this article has changed. You now get 26,000 Aeroplan miles instead of 30,000 - and the annual fee ($120) for this card is no longer waived for the first year. BUT, American Express is now waiving the annual fee for the first year on a *different* card, the Amex Gold Rewards Card (yes, it has a similar sounding name, but is a completely different card).. With the Amex Gold Rewards Card, you can get a bonus of 25,000 'Amex Membership Rewards Points' for signing up. And these points can be converted into Aeroplan Miles at a 1:1 ratio, at no cost. . So basically, since the Amex Gold Rewards Card annual fee is being waived, you are getting 25,000 Aeroplan miles for free (after you convert them). If you read through the rest of this article about the old offer, pretty much all of the same advice and terms will apply. Just remember to use the signup link that takes you to the correct card, the Amex Gold Rewards Card, which is:. https://www.americanexpress.com/canada/en/mgm/mgmeeApplynow.cgi?mgmerCard=goldCard&MGM_URN=AAAAEggRAxoTDw==&CPID=100074907 The rest of the links in the article below will take you to the Aeroplan Plus Gold Card, which as I mentioned, is no longer free.. |
The free flight offer
American Express is offering a staggering 30,000 Aeroplan bonus points to anyone who signs up for their AMEX Aeroplan Plus Gold Card.
As you can see from the Aeroplan rewards chart, this is enough for a free flight from Winnipeg to anywhere in Canada or the Continental USA and still have 5,000 points left over.
In fact, if it's a short haul flight (anywhere between Winnipeg and Ontario, Saskatchewan or Manitoba) - it's actually enough for 2 free flights!
But another interesting thing about this offer is that after you've signed up, you will receive a referral link of your own, and for every person that signs up for the card through your link you receive another 10,000 Aeroplan points on top of the 30,000 !
So basically, for every 3 friends or family that signs up for the card through your link, you receive another free flight. There doesn't appear to be a limitation on how many people you can refer and how many points or free flights you can earn.
If you send it to 7 people, and they all sign up for the card, you'd earn an additional 70,000 Aeroplan points, which is enough for a free trip anywhere in the world! And really, it wouldn't be that difficult to convince 7 people to sign up, considering they're each guaranteed a free flight of their own when they do.
Ok, what's the catch? Is there an annual fee?
Amazingly, American Express is waiving the annual fee for the first year, so this is truly a free offer at no cost to you. Of course, they are hoping that you'll keep the card beyond the first year, at which point there is an annual fee for the card.
*But*, you can cancel the card at any time and keep the 30,000 points without ever having to pay a dime! Just be sure to set up a reminder in your calendar to cancel the card before the 1 year is up.
The only other condition to note is that you need to spend a minimum of $500 (total) with the card within the first 3 months, to receive the 30,000 Aeroplan point bonus.
How do I get the 30,000 free Aeroplan points?
1. Go to the following offer page at the American Express website:
The offer is the first one at the top, titled 'The American Express® AeroplanPlus®* Gold Card'
2. Put a checkmark beside 'I have read and accept the referral program terms'
3. Hit the Apply Now button
Fill out the application, and you're done!
*Note* You do need to use the offer link above to receive the bonus 30,000 Aeroplan points. If you search for the offer on the American Express website without going through the link above, it will only show a bonus of 20,000 Aeroplan points.
Common questions...
Is it really a truly 'free flight' ?
Not entirely. Airlines can still charge the 'taxes & fees' when booking an Aeroplan flight, meaning the flight is not entirely free. Typically you end up paying around $100-$150 to redeem your 'free roundtrip flight' with Aeroplan points no matter how they were earned.
Certain airlines do not charge some of these extra fees when redeeming Aeroplan points, such as United, SWISS, and Air New Zealand. Air Canada definitely does though! I usually avoid redeeming with Air Canada, if possible, for this reason.
Here's a good article
I'm going to get my significant other to sign up for this as well so we can get 60,000 points between us. Is it possible to pool the points together into one Aeroplan account?
No, you will each need to sign up separately to each earn the 30,000 points. And each of those 30,000 bonus points will need to be linked to a separate Aeroplan account.
One thing you can do though, is have one person sign up (earning 30,000 points), and then send your referral link to your significant other to sign them up. Your significant other will receive 30,000 points of their own, and you'll receive 10,000 extra points for signing them up. Meaning you will receive 70,000 free points between the two of you. Not too shabby!
Where do I find my referral link after signing up?
Log into the American Express website and click on the 'Rewards' tab. Then click on 'refer a friend' to send them an e-mail with your referral link.
Beware that the referral e-mail may end up in the SPAM folder of the e-mail account of the people you're trying to refer. At least, it did for me, in my Gmail account.
To avoid this, you may want to try to find your actual referral link and send that link to your friend's and family in a more personal e-mail. For example, my referral link is:
Yours will be identical, except for the part in bold, which should be different.
How many points can I accumulate with this card using it normally?
In addition to the 30,000 point bonus for signing up, you will receive...
1 Aeroplan mile for every dollar spent, up to the first $10,000 annually
1.25 Aeroplan miles for every dollar spent over $10,000 annually
Seems crazy not to sign up. What's to stop people from cancelling the card as soon as they redeem their 30,000 bonus Aeroplan points for the free flight?
Nothing, people do it all the time. American Express is just hoping a certain percentage of people will keep the card beyond the first year. They know that the vast majority will cancel the card, and from what I've heard, it's very painless, with just one phone call, to an American Express agent that cancels hundreds of these cards a week and doesn't try to convince you to keep it.
Does it impact your credit score if you cancel the card before the first year is up?
Nope!
And you are receiving a 10,000 point referral bonus from American Express when I sign up?
Yes, to be very transparent about this, when American Express gives you your free 30,000 Aeroplan points, they also give me a 10,000 point bonus for referring you, assuming you signed up using one of the links on this page.
I already have enough Aeroplan points of my own for a few flights, but could always use the extra points to buy some gift cards through the Aeroplan store to help pay for server hosting & e-mail fees, and other costs associated with running the site.
Or if you would rather see those 10,000 points donated to a charity just pick one from the Aeroplan Donation Page and then give me a shout by e-mail or through the contact page after you have submitted your application to let me know which one to donate them to. I'll send you back a screenshot of the donation after it is made.
Okay, okay, I'm convinced. What's the signup link again?
This offer is open to residents of Canada only.
I still have a question!
Comment below and I'll try to answer it as best I can.
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39 Responses to "Free roundtrip flight anywhere in North America | Amex Rewards card offer"
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Are there rules about when these points must be used? For example, could I sign up for a card, get the points, cancel the card before the one free year is up and use the points a year after that?
Hi there, sounds like a great deal. Do you know if you can use your points for children's flights as well?
Yes, you can cancel after you get the points and still keep the points after that, you just need to keep your Aeroplan account active by having a transaction post every year
Yes you can book anyone with your points in your account
Cole's answers are spot on. Once the Aeroplan bonus points are in your account, they're yours to keep and use whenever you want. No matter what happens after the bonus points have been deposited (you cancel your Amex card for example), the Aeroplan points will remain in your Aeroplan account.
Just make sure to keep your Aeroplan account active by using it once a year. This can be as simple as using your Aeroplan card when you fill up with gas.
Do the points only get credited to us after the first 3 months? or right when we sign up? Is there a risk of airlines not allowing you to use the flights?
The points should be credited on the next generated billing statement right after you've used the card to make $500 in purchases (just as long as those purchases are anytime within the 3 month span). The billing statements are generated once a month.
Nope, no risk of the airlines not allowing you to use the flights, as long as they can be booked through Aeroplan. That's not always easy, as booking Aeroplan flights can be annoying sometimes! (If no flights are available, and sometimes you need to book well in advance).
At the very worst, if you don't end up using the points for a flight, you could use the 30,000 free points to buy gift cards through the Aeroplan store (Costco, American Express, Air Canada, Esso, etc).
I didn't get a referral code at the end =(
Upon closer inspection, you had answered that question! My apologies!!
I just signed up! But in order to refer anyone it requires me to enter my credit card number....which won't arrive for another 10 business days.....
Anyway to work around this?
It looks like you can't get the 30,000 aeroplan miles without a referral link. Or am I missing something? If I try to go through the website it only says 20,000 points
Shirley: Unfortunately you do need to have your card number before you can generate the referral link. As far as I know there is no way around that.
Adam: Yes, to get the 30,000 aeroplan points, you need to go through somebody's referral link, whether it's a link from this blog post, or a friend that you know.
If you apply for the same card without going through a referral link (such as searching for the card on the American Express website) it's a similar offer, but only 20,000 points instead of 30,000.
Hi Chris, it says you can refer up to 5 friends. Can you confirm they are not enforcing this rule?
https://www.americanexpress.com/ca/en/content/membership-benefits/aeroplanplus-gold/earn-faster.html#refer-a-friend
Cheers
Matt
So every time someone uses your link you get an extra 10,000 miles nice plan. Or they could sign up get the card for 20,000 then refer someone then get the extra 10,000 then use their referral link to get extra.
How many free flights have you received from others using your link off your site!
Smart,! Props to you.
Matt: I can definitely confirm that you can refer more than 5 friends. 5 friends is just the limitation of how many you can send at once using the form on the American Express website.
If you include your own e-mail address on the 'Refer a friend page', take a look at the e-mail that you get, and copy the link from this e-mail. (It should look like the one I've included in my blog posts) You can send that link to whoever you would like, in your own e-mails that you send out, and it will track your referrals.
Have there been any problems with "blackout" dates?
Hi Chris,
How can you track your referrals? Are you able to see who you have referred? Or, do you just have to wait and see if it shows up in your account? Wondering about your experience. By the way I was approved for a card using your link!
Thanks Mark! Unfortunately there does not seem to be a way to actually track your referrals. You kind of have to go on blind faith that Amex will track them properly. I was worried about that as well, but have been receiving around the number of referrals I expected on each monthly statement, so they do seem to be tracking properly.
I have sent out referrals through the amex website but an email is not sent out to the recipient. Have been waiting for over 24 hours .. still nothing. Anyone know how long it takes for the email to be sent out?
Brian: In my experience it should arrive within 10 minutes. However, I have also found that a lot of spam filters may block the e-mail coming from American Express.
What you might want to do is send a referral e-mail to yourself (check your spam folder). And then click on one of the links. Copy the link from your browser. It should look similar to the links in my blog post above.
Take this link, and use it to send out a more personal e-mail to friends. That way, it's not likely to get filtered into someone's spam folder.
Chris: Thank You... That worked
Hi Chris, thanks so much for this, I've signed up using your link.
My questions is, how do I generate a referral link of my own?
I now have my American Express and Aeroplan card, but not sure how to get the referral link.
Thanks!
Jeff
I found the referral link once I signed in to the American Axpress website.
Thanks
No problem Jeff, glad you found it! For anyone else that may be wondering, you just go to the American Express website and look under 'Rewards', and then click on 'Refer A Friend'
10,000 miles have been donated to the Khartum Shrine Transportation fund on behalf of JC.
screenshot: http://s8.postimg.org/tav2nv879/Clipboard01.jpg
Hey Chris! Thanks for the tip on this deal. I signed up in April and just spent the $500 on my AMEX card... but I only got 500 aeroplan points for it! Any idea what the deal is with that? I am probably going to call and see what's up but I thought I'd check and see if you had anything to say about it.
Thanks!
Hi Danielle,
It does seem like you must have spent the $500 in the first 3 months, even if you signed up April 1st. I can't think of any other criteria that you would have missed. Please let me know what Amex says about it, thanks!
Hey Chris!
False alarm on the lack of points... it just took a while for my payment to show up on my AMEX card statement. I got my points, plus an additional 1000 points for creating an Aeroplan account online to keep track of my points. Sweet deal! Thanks for the quick response on this regardless!
Nice! Glad to hear it all worked out Danielle!
Hey Chris I just signed up for a card through your referral link.
Quick question...
It says point become void if you cancel your card. Does this just mean you have to use your 30 000 points within the first year of having the card before you cancel it? I will likely cancel it before the annual fee is due...
Hey Chris I just signed up for a card through your referral link.
Quick question...
It says point become void if you cancel your card. Does this just mean you have to use your 30 000 points within the first year of having the card before you cancel it? I will likely cancel it before the annual fee is due...
Hi Meg,
Can you tell me where you saw that? I'll check the terms & conditions to see if anything has changed. That definitely wasn't the case when I signed up.
Hey Chris I didn't actually see it anywhere...was just wondering...then I realized I probably should've read all the previous posts first :P
I also just learned today that you can apparently sign up and do this multiple times? I'm not sure how long you may have to wait in between sign ups though...
Also, do you have to sign up separately for an Aeroplan account if you didn't have one before? This person told me you have to do something to transfer the points to your Aeroplan account before you can use them?
Thanks!
Hi Megs,
You might have to wait at least 6 months before canceling and signing up again to get more points. Sometimes there restrictions in regards to how long it's been since you signed up for a similar card from the same place.
If you didn't submit an Aeroplan number when you applied, American Express will have created an Aeroplan account on your behalf. Just send them an e-mail or give them a call and ask them what your Aeroplan number is, and the password. (And then change your Aeroplan password after you log in)
Hi I see that most of thf posts were a few months ago. Do you know if this still all hold true? I didn't see that the first year was free (where was that info before) and also now it is only showing bonus points if 26000. Do you know if the promo has been changed since the summer? Thank you!!!
Hey Chris,
I'm just revisiting this post again and was wondering if I had signed up, got my points and cancelled the AmEx Plus Gold, can I now sign up for the AmEx Gold and receive 25 000 points to my Aeroplan account?
Chris
I just registered for the American Express Aeroplan Gold Card.
Nowhere does it say the sign-up points are 30000. It only promises 26000.
Did i miss something? Also, i don't seem to be able to get my personal referral link. May be i have to wait till my card arrives and be activated?
Please enlighten! Thanks for your effort in helping travellers! Tom
Ps: Through your Winnipeg Travel Group info, i am able to obtain good price through Flighthub for return flights to Hong Kong via Delta for $860.
Thanks.
Chris
I just registered for the American Express Aeroplan Gold Card.
Nowhere does it say the sign-up points are 30000. It only promises 26000.
Did i miss something? Also, i don't seem to be able to get my personal referral link. May be i have to wait till my card arrives and be activated?
Please enlighten! Thanks for your effort in helping travellers! Tom
Ps: Through your Winnipeg Travel Group info, i am able to obtain good price through Flighthub for return flights to Hong Kong via Delta for $860.
Thanks.
Hi Tom,
In the orange colored box at the top of this article, I mentioned an update regarding the Amex Aeroplan Gold Card, and how it's 26,000 miles now, instead of 30,000. They also no longer waive the annual fee.
The Amex Gold Rewards Card does not have the annual fee, and offers 25,000 points, which can be converted into 25,000 Aeroplan miles, at no charge.
For the referral link, you do need to have your card first, so you can log into the American Express website.
Once you log into the American Express website, click on the 'Rewards' tab. Then click on 'refer a friend' to send them an e-mail with your referral link.
Hope that helps!